So, that baby is finally in your arms! Congratulations on the arrival of your little love. There is nothing so wonderful and exhausting as new motherhood.

Here are my top tips for not only surviving this stage, but thriving in it.

1. Adjust Your Expectations About Baby's Sleep Schedule

So and so’s baby might sleep through the night at 6 weeks, but that doesn’t mean yours will. In fact, it’s extremely unlikely. When we start to compare our babies with everyone else’s babies, we set ourselves up for disappointment. My firstborn slept through the night as soon as I brought him home! Then after a week or two, he started waking up a lot and didn’t sleep through again until he was 3 years old!

There is no race to this milestone, and even though it’s exhausting, a change in expectations will make it a little easier. This post from KellyMom about normal infant sleep studies is a good place to start.

2. Sleep When You Can!

Speaking of sleep deprivation, everybody will tell you to sleep when your baby sleeps and you’ll probably smile and nod while in your head you’re thinking, “Yeah, right! Do you see the state of this house?!”

Plus, what if you have a toddler or other children? Sleeping when the baby sleeps isn’t always a possibility. Here are 8 ways from BabyCenter to get more sleep.

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